Book Image

Learning Java by Building Android Games - Third Edition

By : John Horton
5 (1)
Book Image

Learning Java by Building Android Games - Third Edition

5 (1)
By: John Horton

Overview of this book

Android is one of the most popular mobile operating systems today. It uses the most popular programming language, Java, as one of the primary languages for building apps of all types. Unlike most other Android books, this book doesn’t assume that you have any prior knowledge of Java programming, instead helps you get started with building Android games as a beginner. This new, improved, and updated third edition of Learning Java by Building Android Games helps you to build Android games from scratch. Once you've got to grips with the fundamentals, the difficulty level increases steadily as you explore key Java topics, such as variables, loops, methods, object-oriented programming (OOP), and design patterns while working with up-to-date code and supporting examples. At each stage, you'll be able to test your understanding by implementing the concepts that you’ve learned to develop a game. Toward the end, you’ll build games such as Sub Hunter, Retro Pong, Bullet Hell, Classic Snake, and Scrolling Shooter. By the end of this Java book, you'll not only have a solid understanding of Java and Android basics but will also have developed five cool games for the Android platform.
Table of Contents (24 chapters)

Methods

Tip

A fact about methods: almost all our code will be inside a method!

Clearly, methods are important. While this book will typically focus on the practical- getting-things-done aspect of programming, it is also important to cover the necessary theory as well so that we can make fast progress and end up with a full understanding at the end.

Having said this, it is not necessary to master or memorize everything about method theory before moving on with the project. If something doesn't quite make sense, the most likely reason is that something else later in this book will make things come more into focus.

Tip

Thoroughly read everything about methods but don't wait until you are 100% confident with everything in this section before moving on. The best way to master methods is to go ahead and use them.

Methods revisited and explained further

As a refresher, the following diagram roughly sums up where our understanding of methods is now. The ticks...